Capture my What?
by Bishimimou
Summary: The Winter War is won, and now the Seretei is at a loss what to do in their peace. So why not coujure up a nice game of Capture the flag, with a healthy side of a wager? AU basically... I guess set after published manga. YoruSoi COMPLETE!
1. The New Captains and a Wager

**Capture my…What?**

The day started slightly more unusual than some others in the Seretei. The Second squad barracks were quiet. Some from the Onmitsukido trained by their own volition, but orders and large groups of the second squad were anti-present. A quiet wind blew through a particularly void place that harbored a young woman who refused to meet the day.

Captain Soifon of the Second Division slept soundlessly, unaware of the time it was. The Winter War was won, and the only thing young Captain wanted to do was rest. Not bark orders, not admonish her subordinates, just to sleep and catch up on the sleep that eluded her for nearly a century.

She'd been blindsided during the battles, and lost her arm, only to be saved by her mentor, and have her arm replaced soon after her by the girl named Orihime. She was still getting used to her "new arm" as she called it, not exactly being the arm it used to be. She was happy though that she could have it returned to her, a much better happenstance than having to walk around like that Shiba woman had.

A shuffling noise was heard through out the Captain's room, which woke her up not too much later. She sat up in a huff with an uncharacteristic grogginess to her features; her light grey eyes scanned the area of her room to see what it was that had brought her out of her unconscious state. Suddenly a white paper floated from seemingly no where and followed soon after by a hell butterfly.

She decided to answer the hell butterfly before the paper, and lifted her slender hand to allow the insect to perch upon her index.

"ALL MEMBERS OF THE SERETEI ARE HEARBY APPOINTED TO MEET IN THE GRAND ARENA! CAPTAINS PLEASE ALERT ALL MEMBERS OF ANY AND ALL FACTIONS OF THE SERETEI!" the message spoke in a demanding tone, and the butterfly was off in an instant. A look of disappointment flashed across the young Captain's visage as she looked around her slightly untidy room to see the numbers on her clock.

Her eyes widened as the analogue numbers all but screamed "12:45 PM" to her. She looked back to her bed to see that her hand had found its way to the white paper that was about to be forgotten, and picked it up to read the literature.

"_I'll see you at the finish line…_"

Her brow furrowed at the text in front of her. She brushed it off without care, and quickly got to her feet as she grabbed for a brush on her side table. She quickly ran it through her dark locks as her eyes scanned her closet for a clean uniform. She was luckily rewarded with having only one left and made a quick note on her pad that when she returned to do her laundry.

After she finished combing out all the knots in her ridiculously long hair she commenced on braiding the longer hair in twin tails, and wrapped a white cloth around them with her characteristic gold rings hanging at the end of the hair. She slipped on her uniform and Haori which held the crest of the second squad on the back, tying it with a bright yellow sash. She looked at herself in the mirror for a moment, not really caring so much about what she looked like, as long as she looked moderately presentable, and walked out of her room.

She turned to the left and using her "new arm" reached up and rang the gong to alert all members of Squad two and the Onmitsukido to come to attention. Within the next two minutes everyone under her supervision met in the courtyard of the squad's barracks.

"We've all been ordered to meet in the grand arena. I ask that you all get there in the next five minutes!" she said raising her new arm to depict her dismissal and the group used a Shunpo to get on their way.

The young Captain looked at the sky a small smirk glinted across her pale lips. '_It sure is peaceful today. Why do they have to ruin it with something like this?_' she thought creasing her brows for a second before getting on her own way to the grand arena.

-----

As the grand arena filled, most of the second squad members were not surprised by the fact that their Captain had beat them even if she'd left after them, all but the new members that is. She along with the other Captains stood at attention on a stage with Captain Commander Yamamoto. After about ten minutes, or so, the entire arena was filled with each squad standing in straight lines in their own sections everyone murmuring to each other as to what they thought was happening.

Things quieted the moment Yamamoto stepped forward

"I have brought you all here today to make some very special announcements." He began as his voice rang clear over the entirety of the Seretei. "The Winter War is won, and though there may've been casualties, and betrayals, I would like you all to remember that Aizen Sousuke has also taught us all something very important. Though there are many who have been banished in the past, they are still loyal to the word of the Shinigami."

His eyes softened for a moment before continuing on.

"I would like to allow you all to know, though I have loved to be the Commander of the Gotei 13, the time has come for me to take a step back, for the new generation that has begun to sprout among us at what we call prodigies, such as Tenth Captain: Hitsugaya, and Second Captain: Soifon!" he paused a moment for gasps and some applause to the honored Captains.

"So, I shall end this with handing you over to your new Captain Commander, Ukitake Jushiro!" the applause rang clear, and the young Second Captain almost scoffed.

'_Saw that from a mile away._' She thought.

"Hello, all! Thank you for your praise!" Ukitake said with a smile, and continued on. "We have other things we must get to now! As you know, now we have four open captain positions, all of which have been filled through a process conducted all last week." He said with a smile, and gossip started up once again at who could be the new Captains.

"So, if you'll join me in welcoming our new Captains: Thirteenth Captain, Kuchiki Rukia!" a loud applause erupted at the sight of the petite young woman who walked across the stage to receive her new Captain's Haori from the new Captain Commander.

"Ninth Captain, Shuuhei Hisagi!" the man with a questionable number "69" on his face stepped up and received his Captain's Haori and stepped back to allow the new Captain Commander to continue his new roll call. "Fifth Captain: Shiba Kuukaku" the disheveled black haired woman sauntered up to Ukitake with a small scowl, not liking large parties which held no premise for booze, and walked away slinging her Haori over her shoulder. The Sixth Captain's mood darkened exponentially when he watched the woman come to stand next to him.

"Now, for our last new Captain; someone you may all remember, if you're like me: Third Captain: Shihouin Yoruichi!" he said looking over to see the tall dark woman who made her way onstage. The Second Captain's, who'd been previously uninterested and slightly annoyed that her rest had been interrupted by nothing more than an inauguration party, eyes grew twice the size they originally were upon hearing the familiar name.

Yoruichi pat Ukitake on the shoulder with a smile as she once again received a Captain's Haori, and walked to stand next to Soifon. Sixth Captain Kuchiki Byakuya closed his eyes and ran a hand roughly down his face, upon seeing the pair he hated most now his comrades and colleagues.

"Surprise!" Yoruichi whispered to her old friend. A light blush adorned the Second Captain's face, but she stood at attention, ignoring her mentor to listen to the newly appointed Captain Commander. A small scowl adorned the tan goddess' brow, but looked back to her friend Ukitake to take in the rest of what he had to say.

"In celebration of the new Captain's and myself obtaining our ranks, we have devised a type of game that will commence this Friday, at approximately 7:00 AM. The terms of this game will be delivered in stacks of papers to your various squads' barracks. I hope to see you then, DISMISSED!" he said, and stepped down, allowing the rest of the Shinigami to whisper in wonder about the game that would take place in two days time.

-----

'_Finally!_' thought Yoruichi, turning to talk to her former apprentice, only to find an empty space between her and Unohana, who'd recently turned her back to talk to the newly appointed Fifth Captain.

"Yo!" Kuukaku said, upon seeing her old drinking buddy, and excused herself from Unohana's presence, to walk over to the tan woman. "What happened to your little girly?" she asked with a grin, donning her Captain's Haori for the first time.

"Donno… I'll look for her later, I guess. I'm surprised, how'd you get to be Captain?" Yoruichi asked her friend with a grin, making the dark haired woman adjacent to her scowl for a moment.

"That damn Ganju is useless! I couldn't let a chance for the Shiba family to be reinstated to slip by because my stupid little brother was too scared to become a Captain" Kuukaku explained.

"Well, I guess you'd make a better one, now that ya got both arms again!" Yoruichi said with a grin, reaching out and landing a playful punch on her friend's newly regenerated arm

"Har, Har" Kuukaku said, while looking over her friend's shoulder. "You going to go looking for your bee?" she asked after a minute.

"Yeah, I should get going, I gotta see what this game is too! Sounds like fun!" Yoruichi said, lightening the mood with a toothy grin, as she and her longtime friend "high-fived" each other before Yoruichi used Shunpo to run off toward the Second Squad barracks.

-----

"Soi!" was heard ringing throughout Yoruichi's old haunt as she used her Shunpo to dash here and there. "Soi?!" she called again, and promptly opened the door to the Captain's office, to find the young Captain lightly snoozing with her head in her arms across her desk. A gentle smile spread across the purple haired woman's features.

"Y-Yoruichi?"

The taller woman slightly jumped, thinking her cover had been blown for a minute, but she relaxed when the other woman did nothing but shift her head in her arms. The grin on the older woman's face grew slightly more as she quietly made her way to hover just over her former student, and leaned down almost touching her lips to the younger woman's ear.

"Soooii…" she whispered causing the younger woman to tremble in her sleep. Yoruichi caught the giggle that had leapt into her throat, and lightly placed her hand on the younger woman's back.

"Soi." She said again, slightly more firm, and the young woman's eyes fluttered open at the familiar voice that called her.

"Y-Yoruichi-sama!" the younger woman stammered sitting up quickly after the older woman straightened herself beside her protégé.

"So, what's this game about?" Yoruichi asked nonchalantly picking up a paper from a stack of many on the young Captain's desk.

"It's a capture the flag game. The first squad to catch the most flags by the end of the game period wins a prize of some sort. It seems ridiculous, especially when they want everyone from the Seretei to join, including the Onmitsukido. I mean, who's going to beat my men?" the question directed more as a rhetorical question to her self, over one for her old Captain. Her initial blush now disappearing from the way she'd been woke up.

A grin spread across the beautiful woman's features. A grin that Soifon did not like a single bit.

"I'll be—"

"No."

"Come, on little bee! I'll only bet with you an Kuukaku!"

"No."

Soifon looked over to see her old mentor give her the best kitten eyes she could manage, which made the younger woman turn away.

"I'm not going to fall for this."

"Sure you are, it's just a wager. It's fun!"

A silence lingered for a moment, then an idea struck Yoruichi.

"Unless you don't think that your wonderful _Onmitsukido_ will loose."

This caused the young woman to look over at the smug smile that remained nearly perpetually on that beautiful face.

"Fine." Soifon said finally, leaving it at that.

A happy Yoruichi jumped on Soifon and embraced her happily squealing at the prospects of a fun wager.

"So, what's the wager?" a familiar voice spoke walking out of the shadows.

"I'd really like it if you didn't come into my office without permission, Shiba." Soifon growled, but was taken aback by the finger that was lifted in front of her face by the unruly black haired woman.

"Captain Shiba… Or Captain Kuukaku to you, little missy!" she said with a playful grin, and bellowed a hearty laugh after she finished her sentence.

All the younger woman could do was fume in the arms of her goddess and await the terms of the bet.

-----

"So that's it?" she asked brushing off the Haori that she was setting on, barring the emblem for the second squad on its shoulders.

"Yup!"

Soifon scowled. She didn't like it one bit, but she'd accepted it, so it wasn't really up to her now.

x-x-x-x-

**AN:** _Well, there ya have it, a new Bleach fanfic from yours truly. It's AU so I don't care if Kuukaku, Rukia or Yoruichi would never get asked to be captains for their various reason. _

_I hope you enjoy, and stick around to find out about the wager and the game! (YES... THE GAME)_

_Please, Comment, Critique, flame. I don't mind! I enjoy all of it!_

_~Bishimimou_


	2. Teams and Tactics

**Chapter Two:** _Tactics and Teams_

Captain Soifon woke with a start the next morning looking around to find her room much cleaner that it had been the day before and her brow knitted in mild confusion.

"Morning!" she heard, which caused the young Captain to jump immediately startled at the unusual presence of another person in her room. "It's not like you to be untidy and out of clothes." The voice spoke again in a mocking tone.

"I've been…busy." Soifon said quietly, pulling the sheet that she used as a blanket up to her neck as she looked on at the tall, tan woman who was now setting down a basket of similar clothes to the ones that Soifon donned at the moment.

"I cleaned up for you!" Yoruichi said, walking over to the younger woman with a grin, dropping a clean uniform in the raven haired girl's lap.

"T-thanks?" Soifon said, unsure of why her old mentor would be doing this. "Is there some reason I'm receiving such treatment?" she asked after a minute of watching the older woman hang the contents of the basket in her closet.

"I just felt like it. That's all!" Yoruichi said with a smirk in her protégé's direction.

"Okay, then…" Soifon said a bit unsettled of the current events that had happened already this morning. "Well," she began again. "I have to brief my squad on the actions they are to take in this… game." She said, standing up to go to the bathroom in her room.

"I understand. I have to do that too later. You know that Ukitake said that we're allowed to hide it in the world of the living too, right?" The purple haired goddess asked through the bathroom door. The petite young woman had to set for a moment to think of what she meant.

"Oh, really?" she said after she realized that her old mentor was talking about that damn game.

"Yeah! I can't wait, really!" Yoruichi said brightly. "You know, I still think it was silly to bet for such a simple thing." She mused looking on at the door that separated the two. The younger woman scoffed upon remembering the stupid "Terms of Agreements" that they had set up the night before with the new unruly Fifth Captain.

---

"_So, what are the wagers, ladies?" the older of the black haired women asked with a grin looking down at the youngest in the group who had the" scowl to end all scowls" displayed on her brow._

"_You go first, Kuukaku, and I'll play off of it." Yoruichi suggested with a bright smile refusing to let the short Captain in her arms go._

"_Fine, if I win, you," she paused to place her hand on Soifon's head "little missy, have to come with Yoruichi and me and we're _all_ going to get slammed." She proposed her grin widening at the disapproving look the young Captain shot her. _

"_That sounds good!" Yoruichi said._

"_Also, if Soi-bozu wins" Kuukaku began anew, only to receive a look that could kill from the shorter woman. "I will promise to leave you alone for a whole year… You know call you "Captain "and whatnot." Kuukaku said to Soifon._

"_Well, now, I suppose it's my turn!" Yoruichi said. "If I win, I like what Kuukaku proposed, Soifon has to come get slammed with us!" the tall beauty said squeezing the girl in her arms gently. "And if Kuukaku wins… I suppose I'll give you a whole week to ask me to go bother Byakuya-bo with you." She said with a glint in her eye._

_Soifon sighed. '_How is it that I surround myself with these people?_' she thought for a moment, until she was nudged in the shoulder by Yoruichi who'd _finally_ let go of her._

"_And your bet?"_

"_Uh…" she mused for a moment. "If Kuukaku wins, I guess I'll go get drunk with you." She said, praying to any gods that Kuukaku _wouldn't_ win. "And if I win, I just wanna know if it was you who woke me up the other day with this stupid note." Soifon finished shoving the white sheet of paper with the single line written on it in her old mentor's face._

"_You sure?" Yoruichi asked, Soifon had a load of possibilities that she could bet on, and she chose something as seemingly meaningless as this?_

"_Well, I suppose I could think of something better when the time comes to collect my prize." Soifon mused clearly believing that there was a snowball's chance in hell that she'd lose._

_Yoruichi arched a brow momentarily and grinned widely. "You know, I like that new spark in you." She said allowing the young woman to blush for a second before collecting herself._

"_So that's it?" she asked brushing off the Haori that she was setting on, barring the emblem for the second squad on its shoulders._

"_Yup!" _

-----

Soifon sighed at the memory. This was going to be a long two days.

"By the way," Yoruichi interjected before her friend had left the room. "I made a bet with Byakuya-bo too! I couldn't believe that he agreed to it, so I really hope one of us wins."

Soifon sat for a minute.

"What do you mean, 'one of us' wins?" she asked looking to Yoruichi nearly grinning at what it could be, remembering the feud that was longstanding between the sixth Captain, and her mentor.

"Well I bet if either you or I win, he couldn't bother me about messing with him. If he wins, I'll leave him alone. You know he's going to be pulling out all the stops to try and win. Don't fail me!" Yoruichi said happily, patting her old student's shoulder before walking out of the young woman's room herself.

"I already told you, no one can beat me." Soifon called down the hallway to the receding back of the violet haired beauty, which only put her hand up in a backward wave before using her Shunpo to speed off to her own squad.

Soifon turned to her left, to once again summon her squad to the courtyard, and began to walk there herself.

-----

"Okay, as you all know, we are all meant to play this ridiculous game for the amusement of quelling boredom. So, I'd like the first three seated officers, as well as all leaders of each group to come and follow me, if you will." Soifon spoke to the group of Shinigami that stood before her. "The rest of you are dismissed until 15:00, I would suggest that you train during that time, because if I come back out here and find any of you lounging, I might just have to ask for squad reassignment." She finished, eyeing a particularly lazy group of her subordinates before walking off with the small group of six to her briefing room.

-----

"Alrighty, people! We need to beat Squad two at _**ALL**_ costs! Do you understand? And I brought in just the help that we need for it!" Yoruichi said addressing her squad, allowing them to cheer for a moment before she continued. "Even if we lose to them, we absolutely can't lose against squad six! My sanity depends on it people! So, without further adieu, I present to you our secret weapon!" she said stepping back allowing eight figures to walk out of the shadows.

-----

"Okay guys, I got some weapons here that are a loop hole in how we can win!" Kuukaku shouted to her new squad. "Let's be sure to give them some love, as I tell you about my plan!" she said, and released her "weapons" to be admired at by her subordinates.

-----

Soifon stepped into her briefing room, and closed the door behind the six people who'd followed her, turning abruptly to address them. "So, here we will be going over the tactics for the two day capture the flag event. I will listen to your suggestions first, and make a commentary on them momentarily." She said allowing her men to speak first.

"Captain, I was thinking, perhaps we could hide our flag in the world of the living!" someone shouted.

"Underwater!"

"In a jungle!"

"In a… motorized machine!"

"You mean a car!"

"In a car!"

Many suggestions were made, and Soifon thought about all in great consideration. Yoruichi was her biggest opponent at the moment, being the former head of the Onmitsukido and the Second squad; she was every bit as tactical as Soifon, if not more, in her "wizened age".

The young Captain was brought out of her revere upon hearing a chuckle from a shadowy corner of the room.

"So, you really think you can beat her like that?" spoke a deep laid back voice as the sound of wooden clogs scraped across the floor. Soifon's eyes widened upon seeing a familiar hat and her lips twisted into a feral grin at the new aspects of an unlikely comrade.

-----

Finally Friday arrived and 7:00 AM found its way onto the horizon as all groups of the Seretei were standing in the grand arena to hear the Captain Commander speak yet again.

"By now, I'm sure you know exactly what is going on today. So, I will commence with the start of our two day long game. Captains, if you please." Ukitake said, extending a hand to beckon the other Captains to get their respective flags. Soifon was first up and received hers and quickly went back to stand at attention.

After handing out twelve of the thirteen flags, Ukitake began to speak yet again: "Well, now that we have that taken care of, the Captains have one hour to hide their flag and must report back here within the hour and I will start soon after. BEGIN!" he said, and the majority of the Captains flew off with the exception of two.

"So, it begins." Yoruichi said elbowing Soifon lightly in the side.

"Apparently. Let's see if you can beat my men." Soifon said with a grin before speeding off quicker than Yoruichi had seen thus far.

'_She's really taking this seriously… Maybe I should too._' She thought before using her Shunpo to begin her plan that had a very slim chance of loosing to her old student.

x-x-x-x-x-x

**AN:** _Okay folks, friends and neighbors, here's chapter two! I must say that I'm really rather enjoying writing this, for what I have thought up, I think it'll be about five chapters give, or take._

_This chapter's a bit shorter than the last one, but that's because I'm writing it based on the title of the chapter. As this title implies, it's all about the tactics and teams. Can you guess who are the people/"weapons" that are helping the three battling friends?_

_I can't promise that these will all come out the day after another or what have you, I was just rather inspired to write. Also, I promised someone that I would focus on finding a job, so after Sunday, I ask that you don't expect an update for a week. But I promise after that week, I'll have two chapters or so to post, plus a new oneshot from my other fandom! _

_Sorry for the long Author's notes! ^^;_

_~Bishimimou_


	3. Bending the Rules

**Chapter Three:** _Bending the Rules_

Yoruichi sprinted in the cold air of the late winter in Karakura town. The game had recently started, and all of the Captains of the Gotei 13 were currently on their way to hide their flag. The time limit was two hours, which was a hard limit to deal with, if one was going to hide their flag in the world of the living, as time passed quite differently in the two worlds. So, the violet haired goddess sped her way through the bustling city now a place of peace after the Winter War.

She quickly got to her spot, which was the Urahara Shoten, and shot inside, seeking the help of a man she knew fondly.

"Tessai!" She shouted stumbling through the front of the store into the residential part of the house, causing the large man to quickly find his way out of the kitchen to meet her.

"Yoruichi-san! I see you've come to me for help. Hachi has told me about your plan; please wait and I shall execute a barrier in just a moment." He said, as he dried his hands with a towel.

"I really don't have time." Yoruichi said, shifting her weight on her feet in anxiety as she glanced at the clock. Twenty minutes had passed, which meant that she only had about ten minutes left until she needed to get back to the Soul Society.

'_I shouldn't have gone looking for her…_' she thought with a scowl as the man finally sat the towel down and began to chant the spell used for a barrier.

"Wait!" She said, stopping him. "It's against the rules for someone other than the Captain to set the flag. Just tell me the damn spell." She said irritated, as he related the ridiculously long incantation to her, for her to finally have two minutes left until she needed to get back. "Thanks Tessai! I owe you!" She said with a grin before flashing off into the gateway to the Soul Society.

-----

"Hmm HMMM!" Kuukaku hummed merrily as she set on of her "weapons" on the ground. A large pig, roughly the size of a boulder snorted at its master as she quickly tied the flag, as well as a Kidou charm around its neck in a nice fashion. "There," she began before nodding. "That should do it!" she said triumphantly smirking before making her way back to the Grand Arena. Her target was a moving one, and with the Kidou charm, not many had the chance to actually locate the pig anyway.

She stopped mid stride, as she looked back at the singular pig and frowned. If the pig _was_ caught, it'd be game over, and she wouldn't have as much fun; suddenly a light went off in her head, as she strode back over to the pig, she took out another sheet of paper to write a Kidou charm on.

…

"That should work." She said finally as she looked down at the pig, now adorned with four new charms plastered on its body. "Now you'll never be caught!" she said with glee before walking off to the Grand Arena with time to spare.

-----

There was a whistling noise that was heard as she sprinted, made from the rings that hung so carefully from her neatly braided and wrapped hair. She scowled the whole time remembering the events that transpired just moments ago.

"Dammit Yoruichi!" she said quietly as she continued on, as the memory replayed in her mind.

-----

"_So, it begins." Yoruichi said elbowing Soifon lightly in the side._

"_Apparently. Let's see if you can beat my men." Soifon said with a grin before speeding off quicker than Yoruichi had seen thus far._

_Soifon quickly made her way to the nearest gate to the world of the living as she felt a familiar Reiatsu giving chase… 'So, she's decided to hide it in Karakura town as well?' Soifon thought through a smile as she entered the gate first and was in the city faster than one could imagine._

_As she made her way to her destination, the Captain couldn't help but notice that Yoruichi was still trailing her, no matter how faint the older woman's Reiatsu was, she could still feel it, as though the tan woman were breathing on her neck, so she stopped abruptly._

_She new she could not run from the goddess of flash so instead she decided to wait, she was close enough to where she needed to be and she would wait out until Yoruichi had to make her way to her hiding place. _

_The wait lasted nearly twenty minutes standing in silence until a loud huff was heard and the tan woman's Reiatsu disappeared, as well as any feeling of the woman around._

­-----

'_Now I barely have enough time_.' She thought as she made her way down to a clinic that was close to the middle of town.

She quickly flew through a familiar window, surprising a young girl who was looking over the room with severity.

"W-Who are you?! A Shinigami!" the girl shouted with an all too familiar face, which just pissed Soifon off.

"Yeah, Captain class. Now, I've been informed by Urahara Kisuke that a girl named Karin could keep this:" she paused, holding up her flag that held the symbol for squad two on it. "From any other Shinigami that could be looking for it." She said quickly as she wished to make it back. "Leave it here; don't touch it unless you see Shinigami around that isn't Captain Class. That's when the game has begun." She instructed patiently, though inwardly anxious, as she sat the 'flag' on the desk that was in Karin's room.

The girl looked at her for a few moments before sighing. "I wish Nii-san's teacher wouldn't tell you guy's strange things like that… but what the hell. I'll keep it safe, Captain Nidaime." She said after noticing the number on the flag.

"Soifon." The Captain said quietly before using her Shunpo to get back to the Soul Society.

"Right, Captain Soifon." Karin said, before strolling out of the room which was now hers, even if she had to relinquish it back to her brother when he returned to visit.

-----

As the clock struck the last few seconds, the whole of the Seireitei was anxious at the absence of the two Captains that could actually give everyone a run for their money. Some big bets were placed on them and things would be bad if they didn't make it back on time.

_5…_

Their breath hitched; the two Captains were still not where they should be.

_4…_

Suddenly a rough wind blew and a mocha and violet colored body lay in a heap at the feet of the new Fifth Captain.

_3…_

"Did… Did I… Make it?" she huffed, pulling on the Hakama the tall, busty woman wore. The black haired woman smiled down at her friend, bending to help the poor woman up.

_2…_

"Yeah, you did…"

_1…_

Another quick wind and another huffing body barely breathing due to the strain on her lungs flew onto the Captains stage just as the final bell rang.

"YES!" was heard throughout the Second Division's squads as they saw their Captain land on the stage just in time.

"Well, it looks like every one's here, we'll give a ten minute break for those of us who aren't able to breathe, and we'll get back to the game." Ukitake said with a bright smile, looking over at the two who were nearly dying on the stage.

Yoruichi looked from her spot around Kuukaku's shoulder to see her little bee lying on the ground breathing heavily.

"You suck…" the shorter of the two muttered, and the Shihouin heir saw the younger woman turn her head finally able to see the smirk that erupted on her face.

"Yeah, yeah…" Yoruichi said, waving a hand indifferently, finally able to catch her breath just a bit. She pulled herself off Kuukaku and knelt down to help her younger friend up with some trouble.

"This is what you two get for being difficult." Kuukaku said with a toothy smirk, placing her hands on her hips.

The two Captains finally fixed themselves into an upright setting position, and Yoruichi wanted to do nothing more than lay down on Soifon's lap, but she knew that she had to keep up her appearances, and not disgrace the Second Division.

-----

"Finally, we have all of our Captains ready and raring to go, so without further adieu, **BEGIN**!" the new Captain Commander said, and raised a hand to dismiss his fleet.

Two men came up to Soifon before they went underway, and a quiet conversation took place before they nodded and ran off.

Yoruichi, on the other hand, walked over to her large 'secret weapon'.

"Hachi." She said, nodding to him. "You have them?"

The large man nodded to his 'contractor'.

"I've got the ones in the Soul Society." He replied, and a grin spread across her face, almost as dangerous as the one she'd worn against Aizen in battle.

"Good."

-----

A group of Special Forces were caught up by their Captain as she joined their ranks in the world of the living.

"Captain, we've located Captain Yoruichi's flag, as well as Hitsugaya's and Kuchiki's." he reported, and fell back into ranks as she grinned; following the faint Reiatsu that was Yoruichi's.

-----

"Anything?" she asked as her men came up to her. The men in question shook their heads solemnly; her brows furrowed instantly.

'_How'd she manage to hide it so well?'_ she thought to herself, now realizing, though she'd been around Soifon a lot since the Winter War, she hadn't gotten used to the young woman's Reiatsu's feeling and knew she couldn't easily pick it out of this city full of so many who had high Reiatsu readings.

"Damn." She deadpanned, causing one of her men to raise their brow quizzically.

"Ma'am?" he asked and she flashed him a grin.

"I know there were at least three other Captains that hid theirs in the world of the living. You know Soifon's Reiatsu, right?" she asked and received a nod. "Try your hardest to find hers… and the others, and remember, we're allowed to steal flags, as long as we don't cause mortal damage. Go!" she said wanting to search for the ones that she needed on her own, in the Soul Society…

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

_**AN:**__ So, this is the end of the next chapter, and I hope you enjoyed it… I apologize for it being slightly boring, but I mean, every story has an "explanation" chapter. Next chapter is going to be core of the action with battles over flags, and our girls actually getting to talk to each other! (I apologize for there not being much YoruSoi so far! But believe me there'll be some!) Who knows? I might end up throwing a curve ball at Kuukaku or something! xD_

_Please R&R!!!_

_~Bishimimou_


	4. Capturing Those Flags

**Chapter Four:** _Capturing those flags_

The men Yoruichi sent to find the flags in the Soul Society were quickly out numbered by the amount of Onmitsukido that were now in possession of them. How in the world the Captain thought they could get them before the secret corps was beyond them, but they tried their best to fight the offending team to gain possession of at least a singular flag.

Suddenly a dark flash was seen and a group of Onmitsukido were wiped out leaving a beautiful tan woman with purple hair standing calmly in the middle of the downed group of men, her Haori swayed in the wind depicting the Kanji for "three" in dark black.

"Captain!" one of the other Shinigami said, noticing who'd helped them. She turned a grinned.

"Yo!" she said with a smile. "I'll take these," she began as she held up two flags that she'd procured from the group of Onmitsukido. "If you come into contact with anymore, tell me. The only one in the Second Division that can stand up to me is the Captain. I'll send someone to help you." She explained, and her subordinates nodded. "Keep up the good work." She finished before she used her Shunpo to run off.

-----

"Captain!" a young girl cloaked in a ninja uniform said as she stopped beside the young black haired Captain of the Second Division. Soifon looked down at the younger woman expectantly.

"What is it?" she asked, getting slightly annoyed that the girl was just setting there, looking at her.

"O-oh! I've brought you the flags of the Tenth and Thirteenth division. I've also come to report that there has been an upset of our people in the Soul Society. It seems the Third Captain, Shihouin-dono, has taken out a group that was in possession of two other flags. At the moment, all other groups have stopped their movement to conceal themselves while they await your orders." She said with a bow, a light blush tinged the young girl's cheeks.

Soifon sat for a second, frowning at the report that was given to her.

"Give those to me, and retrieve all other flags that the different groups have obtained, and bring them to me. I'm probably the only one that can stand up to her." Soifon said, and was about to walk away until the young woman shouted to her.

"Wait Captain!" she said with distress etched into her features.

"What?" Soifon said getting slightly angry at the interruption, which could cause the loss of precious flags that were in her possession.

"M-me?" the girl asked shyly.

"Yes, you. You're the smallest and quickest in the position that is most helpful for this job at the moment, Shira. It's up to you." Soifon said, and turned back to look over her shoulder with a small smile, reserved for only the elite of her Onmitsukido. "I'm counting on you." She said before moving to Shunpo away.

"R-Right!" Shira said to nothing before going back to the Soul Society.

-----

Kuukaku kept close by her pig, where ever it was, to make sure the two Captains she didn't want to get it, wouldn't. As she puffed on her cigarette that Yoruichi had brought her from the world of the living, she noticed a familiar Reiatsu quickly gaining on her position.

'_Damn._' She thought stomping out her cigarette. '_I _might_ have to get my ass handed to me on my first day._' She completed her thought as she strolled out beside her prized pig.

"Yo!" she said as soon as the moving Reiatsu stopped, and a figure left in its wake.

"I have to say, Kuukaku, you sure had quite the plan, if only I were slower…" the person said, shaking her head to shake away the offending violet locks that obscured her vision as she held up the Kidou slips that Kuukaku had planted on decoy pigs.

"Yeah, well, I thought you'd be after yer little bee's in that world of the living, ya bitch." Kuukaku said back with a silly grin adorning her features.

"Well, you thought wrong." Yoruichi said with a grin mirroring her friends. "I suppose I gotta take it away from you at all costs though, hmm?" she finished.

"Try yer best." The scruffy woman said, taking a stance ready for whatever may come her way.

"You think you're all super powered now that you've got your arm back? We'll see…" Yoruichi said before she became nothing and Kuukaku awaited the throw down.

-----

'_Here we are._' Soifon thought as she and a group of officers skilled in Kidou stopped in the shadows near Urahara's shop. She made a motion of her hands, signaling that she was going in alone, and if anything were to happen, such as a sneak attack, to assist her at once. The men around her nodded and she disappeared, only to reappear at the side of the shop.

She made her way around the building, knowing what room the flag might be hidden in, until she found the window she'd been looking for. This was not the first time she'd been to the world of the living, nor the first she'd been to her old mentor's room. It was a first to sneak _into_ said room though, and her cheeks flushed at the thought of Yoruichi's relentless suggestive comments that would assault her if the goddess of flash ever learned of this intrusion.

She reached for the window, noticing it was unlocked, and grabbed the bottom that was touching the ledge and was going to open it, but her mind made her hesitate. '_Dammit! Why in the world does this feel… _dirty_?" _she asked herself, her face now becoming much more than the light pink it was just before.

A memory came back from a time she'd overheard the Tenth Division lieutenant talking about "panty divers". They were apparently people who snuck into beautiful women's rooms in the dead of night when they weren't present and looked through their drawers to find prized lingerie. She now felt like she was in a similar situation, going into her goddess' room to take something that wasn't hers without her knowing… and feeling as such made her face beam like a tomato.

'_Reduced to a panty diver…_' she thought, ashamed with her following actions. "Forgive me." She mumbled, before lifting the window and making her way in all in a singular fluid movement.

She looked over the room, on top of her dressers, inside the closet, on top, and under the comfy bed that sat in the corner. It soon dawned on her that it might be hidden somewhere where Yoruichi could make comments about her looking in the future. She could hear it now… '_So my little bee's a panty diver? My, my, I did not know you were so bold…_' she face palmed and walked over to the small dresser the woman had, and reached up to open it until she noticed something: there was another trace of her goddess' Reiatsu in another room.

She carefully opened the door that squeaked in protest and made her way silently into a living room type place. Noticing the cloth was on the table she let out a breath that she'd been holding in relief of not having to search through the older woman's drawers.

The young Captain walked over to the table and, as she thought, there was a strong Kidou barrier cocooning the small cloth with the Kanji for three on it. She was never good at dispelling barriers. She could put them up, and she could break most, and that would give her away, due to the rise of Reiatsu she'd need to use to break it. Tension began building up inside of her; she did not want to have to come through here a second time, especially since she'd have to bring along another person.

The sound of feet shuffling over the floor just outside of a shoji to her right got her attention and she skillfully hid in the shadows, as she waited for the person to come and go. Urahara strolled in with a bored look on his face, as he sat at the table and clicked on the TV.

Soifon was hesitant, he'd helped her hide her flag, but that was the extent of their deal…

-----

"_Urahara Kisuke, what can I do to help you on such a day?" she asked as the man with tall wooden sandals and a conspicuous green and white stripped hat walked from the shadows in her briefing room._

"_Soi-chan, I've been told _everyone_ is allowed to play. Am I not allowed to _help_ my friend's _little bee_?" he said with mock hurt as he hid his smile behind the fan he liked to carry about._

"_Don't call me that… Why should _you_ be helping _me_ of all people? You've got two friends that could loose to me." She said, disbelieving of his generosity. _

"_I'll make a deal with you then, so you know I'm not sending you into a trap. I'll tell you where to hide your flag… a place where no one, not even Yoruichi-san, will find without great difficulty… that will be the extent of my help. All I ask in return is that you beat Kuukaku and Yoruichi in this little game." He said, lowering his fan to show a genuine smile at the younger woman in front of him._

"_Fine…"_

-----

The man in question sighed and smiled at the television. "My, my." He mumbled to the TV, and sat the remote, as Soifon remembered what it was called, on the table. "You are quite a problem…" he said picking up the Third Captains flag; as he did the young Captain's eyes widened. "You better win." He mumbled again, before saying something about there being nothing good on, picking up the remote, turning off the TV, and shuffling out of the room.

After the shoji closed Soifon came out of hiding and walked carefully over to the cloth. All traces of the barrier that had cloaked the cloth before were no where to be found. _'Damn that sneaky bastard._' She thought to herself before pocketing the cloth and making her way back through her old mentor's room, out the window, closing the pane behind her.

"I've got it; now let's get back to the Soul Society. There are at least two flags I need to get personally before coming back here." Soifon said to her team and the lot of them disappeared leaving the store front leaving Urahara's words echoing in Soifon's thoughts.

-----

Back in the Soul Society the noise of a brawl had quieted leaving two women huffing in its wake.

"Well, Kuukaku, you've gotten better." Yoruichi said, wiping the blood from her lip, the smile had never disappeared.

"Eh? You know how crazy bar fights can get!" Kuukaku replied, getting up from the spot she'd just been laying face down after a throw that Yoruichi had pulled on her: the deciding factor of the brawl.

"Yeah, yeah…" Yoruichi said waving off the statement. "That was some _bar_ fight." She finished with a chuckle, walking over to help her friend up.

Moments earlier she'd retrieved her friend's flag and had tucked it away into a pocket on the inside of her Haori. She'd won, but that didn't mean she had to be stuck up and walk away, which was why she went to help Kuukaku stand. She _had_ delivered quite the beating.

"Thanks." Kuukaku said, with a smile as she brushed up against Yoruichi to stabilize herself.

"Yeah, no problem… So, I guess you aren't really going to try anymore, huh?" Yoruichi asked stepping back when she knew her rowdy friend could stand without her help.

"Nah! If my group finds some, and somehow manages to keep them from you and your girl, I'll be happy, I guess." The dark haired woman said shrugging, and taking out a new cigarette. "You know these things are pretty alright." She said, lighting the stick of tobacco with a lighter that Yoruichi had picked out especially for her friend.

"I thought you'd like them. Well, I gotta get going before Soifon takes all my _booty_." She said before turning.

"You'd like that, wouldn't ya?" Kuukaku said through a cough/laugh as she sucked in too much smoke. Yoruichi looked at her friend and shrugged at the sight of her friend doubled over in pain and hysterics at the same time.

"Only in your dreams, Kuukaku." She replied before disappearing into the horizon with her Shunpo.

Kuukaku sat down, finally able to breath, only to take another drag off her tobacco, before searching through her yukata that was apart of her new outfit. "I gotcha, ya bitch." She mumbled to herself, pulling out the flag that the dark woman had thought she'd stolen moments ago. "I'm the best at pick pocketing nowadays." She finished placing the cloth back next to her breast, and stood to walk off to a bar, grinning all the way.

-----

Captain Soifon made her way to where she felt Kuukaku's Reiatsu most prominent which happened to be a bar, and a rough one at that. She sighed as she went to make her way into the place, only to be quickly interrupted by a black clothed figure that appeared kneeling at her feet.

"Shira," Soifon said with some surprise at seeing the younger girl.

"Captain, I've brought all I could get. Shihouin-dono has not been kind to our factions. I, myself, barely got away." She reported, which caused Soifon's eyes to widen.

"Yo-you got aw—never mind. Thank you Shira, I appreciate all your hard work." She said, placing a hand on the short girl's shoulder and took the two that were offered to her, now with five in hand, which left her own as well as the seven others in the Seireitei. "Keep up the good work… Can I ask, do you have intel on the number Yoruichi-sa… The Third Captain has?"

"Y-yes ma'am! The Third Captain is currently in possession of five flags. I also have news from a trusted source that she has not come close to finding our division's flag!" Shira said happy to give her Captain any information that she may need.

"Continue to find the other two." Soifon commanded.

"Uh, two, ma'am? I thought there were three…" Shira asked, counting the number of found flags at the moment.

"I'm currently on the trail of getting Shiba Kuukaku's flag. Now, be on your way." Soifon said, and Shira nodded and disappeared. The Second Captain sighed, lowering her head, hearing the clink of the rings in her hair. '_I so wish _that_ girl could be my Lieutenant. She's so much more efficient that that idiot __Ō__maeda…_' she mused for a moment, before raising her head again and walking forward into the seedy bar.

-----

"Ma'am!" a man from the third division called landing next to his Captain. "We've collected two more flags, and I've been told that the Second division has five in their possession… but the one who's carrying them is the Captain and none of our men can get close to her." He reported to the Shihouin heir as she lazed about in a tree. A smirk spread across her face as she heard the news.

"Good… there are two flags left… I know one is Soifon's herself… I'm guessing the other is either Shunsui's or Ukitake's… keep up your scouting, and try to see what numbers she has."

"M-ma'am, she has more flags than we do." He said only to be taken aback minutes later by the shaking of her head.

"I've gotten two more: Kuukaku's and Byakuya-bo's… See?" she said digging out the flags in her possession smiling with a bright grin and her eyes closed.

"… Ma'am…" he said quietly, afraid the strong, ex-Second Division Captain would be cross with him. "There's only one flag in your hand, and it's marked with the Sixth Division's insignia." He explained, then flinched when he saw Yoruichi's beautiful golden eyes snap open to look at her hands, then glared dangerously at the cloth.

"That dirty bitch… but when could she have—?" she paused as the memory of Kuukaku bumping against her to "steady herself" after their fight. "Dammit!" She cursed her momentary idiocy, causing the man to cringe in front of her. "We're tied…" she admitted a bit quieter. "We _need_ to find the last two flags. I'll be searching for Captain Soifon's, you all find the other, and if you happen to see _Captain_ Shiba, I order that you get the one she took back from me." She said angrily, and disappeared to go to the world of the living once again.

-----

"An' tha bitch really though I'd lost!"

As the young Captain Soifon made her way through the sad excuse of a bar she found herself in, she heard the loud laughter, and part of a slurred conversation belonging to Shiba Kuukaku.

"Kuukaku," Soifon said walking up next to the loud woman who instantly got quiet at the locking cloudy grey and ocean blue. "I don't wanna have to kick your ass in the state you're in, now just tell me where your flag is." Soifon said.

A deep blush adorned the rowdy woman's face. '_Induced by the alcohol that she's been consuming for the last hour or so_,_ no doubt._' Soifon thought.

"Shoi-chan~" she sang, leaning onto the younger woman. "Yew knows yer sooo cute!" She said, raising a hand to caress the younger woman's face.

"K-Kuukaku!" Soifon nearly shouted trying to back away from the older woman who'd attached herself to her.

"Come on! Yew gotta not be so shtif…" she said before giggling at the last word in her sentence. "Shtif!" she mused happily, rocking the younger woman's shoulder.

"I need your flag!" Soifon said with finality.

"Nope!" Kuukaku said with a grin before turning back to her bottle.

"Kuukaku!" Soifon said again sternly, leaning on the bar closer to the woman who was now making a scene. "I said I really need your flag, Kuuka—"suddenly she was cut off by a kiss from the woman who refused to cooperate. Her face flushed deeply as she attempted to extract herself. After a moment the woman sat back, satisfied, allowing the younger girl to breathe.

"No wonder she fancy's you." Kuukaku said with a sly grin, reaching into her yukata.

"W-wha?" Soifon stuttered before jumping back at the feeling of a touch on her chest.

"A present, for being such a cutie!" the older of the two said with a laugh. "I hope you're forced to drink with me though…" she murmured over the rim of her glass before taking another swig.

Soifon, now thoroughly embarrassed, sped out of the dingy bar and quickly made her way someplace to think quietly for a moment.

"What the hell was that?" she asked aloud to no one in particular.

"What, Captain?" a small voice was heard, and Soifon jumped back, startled at the arrival of the girl that had been taking care of the majority of the flag collecting.

"S-Shira! It's you…" The short Captain said, placing a hand over hear quickly beating heart. A confused look crossed the younger girl's brow, as she looked on at the condition her Captain was in.

"Ma'am, are you all right?" she asked, concerned for the well being of the older woman.

"Y-yeah, you just startled me." Soifon said shaking her head, missing the younger girl's brow rising in surprise.

'_I surprised the Captain?_' she thought but shook the thought from her mind. Soifon did seem distressed far more than normal.

"What… what is it you want?" she asked looking over the younger girl standing in awe at her current situation.

"Ma'am, we've found out that Yoruichi has captured the flag of Captain Kyoraku, and is now tied with the Second division. The only flag left is ours… What do you think we should do?" she asked.

"I'll go look after it. Don't worry. My Onmitsukido will not loose in a meaningless game such as this. You can accompany me, if you'd like. Just try to keep up." Soifon said before making to Shunpo away to a gate leading to Karakura town, which was once again becoming the final battle field of an intense war.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

**AN:** _So, I hope you all liked it, so far. UGH! I know I said that I'd put YoruSoi in this chapter… I think I lied. But worry not I _**SWEAR**_ that the next chapter is going to be the YoruSoi chapter, as well as any other one after. I think this is going to span at least six chapters, so I've got two more to go. _

_Recently I was reading another fanfiction about a stripper Yoruichi, and there was a bit of a one-sided KuukakuSoi lovin'… it made me think "Oh, wow… Kuukaku and Soi aren't such a bad couple, if you think about it." I mean, YoruSoi's always gonna be my OTP, but either of them paired with Kuukaku isn't bad either._

_I hope you stick around for teh epicness of YoruSoi chapter! _

_~Bishimimou_


	5. Capture my What?

**Chapter Five:** _Capture my… What!?_

Soifon made her way quickly to the nearest gate to the world of the living. She was moving slower than normal, but that didn't mean that she wasn't surprised that this young girl was able to keep up with her, even at this speed.

"May I ask," she called over her shoulder to Shira who was following adamantly behind her. "What chair are you?" The girl behind her faltered a little and blushed at the attention her Captain was giving her.

"I-I'm not… seated… Ma'am!" she said looking down, her dark sapphire hair making a curtain around her features. She didn't know the reason her Captain even knew her name in the first place, and now she had the disgrace of revealing that she wasn't even a seated officer.

The young Second Captain made a grunt of understanding, and they continued on in silence.

-----

'_Damn!_' Yoruichi thought as she felt the Reiatsu of her stoic friend enter Karakura town.

"Ma'am!" interrupted her thoughts. "There's only two hours left until sundown in the Seireitei, do you think we'll be able to find it?"

The violet haired goddess was quiet, causing her subordinate to almost begin to speak again until she muttered "there!"

"M-ma'am?" he asked as the tall elegant beauty that was his captain looked up with a victorious smirk.

"I've found it! She was silly to come and give me a fresh breath of her Reiatsu." She said, starting off to look for the place that she felt a faint reflection of a second source of the young Captain's Reiatsu.

-----

'_That's it… Come and look for my flag._' Captain Soifon thought; she'd used Shira as a decoy to make Yoruichi think she had the upper hand and could get to where the young Captain, herself, had hidden her flag, before her.

Almost as quickly as she'd felt the release of her own Reiatsu, a strong wind blew and left in its wake was a confused Yoruichi.

"Soifon! H-how'd you--?" Yoruichi couldn't finish her sentence, due to the surprise she felt. A grin spread across her protégé's face at the dumbstruck look her old mentor wore.

"We've played a game similar to this before, remember, Yoruichi-sama? You taught me this, using myself to set off your Reiatsu bomb." Soifon explained, noting the change in the violet haired woman's golden eyes when she said something of it.

"I remember… but you were pretty fast. So most thought that was really me… I didn't think there was anyone in your squads that were anywhere close to you." Yoruichi mused, now falling back into normal talk with her student who'd learned so much from her.

"Funny thing… There happened to be a diamond in the rough among my _unseated_ subordinates." Soifon said, as the girl that they were talking about arrived with half of the remaining members of the Onmitsukido that weren't knocked out by their former commander.

"Ma'am, I hope everything worked out as planed." The girl said bowing at Soifon's side.

"It's nostalgic, seeing that girl and you remind me of us… of course, you're much different than I was." Yoruichi commented as she looked on at the young girl that now stood upright at Soifon's side. "Too bad that oaf paid his way to being a lieutenant; I believe that girl is more than capable of taking up that position."

The girl in question blushed deeply at the older woman's lingering eyes that were studying her so intently, but she straightened up as she saw other members of Squad Three gathering around their Captain, most out of breath.

"I'm sorry Yoruichi, but you're not going to win." Soifon said with danger in her words, dropping the "sama" that she so affectionately used.

"If these situations make you say my name the way I want you to, I think we should get into them more often." Yoruichi said playfully, knowing that she now had an audience to poke and prod at her favorite thing to do so with.

Soifon scoffed. She knew what Yoruichi was attempting to do, and it wasn't going to work, especially when she had to keep up her stoic appearance in front of her squad.

"Fine, how about we do this: you and I in hand to hand combat… just like old times, winner takes all." Yoruichi said with glee shining in her bright golden eyes.

Soifon nodded. "That'll work…" she said.

"Ma'am!" quickly shot up among the two Squads. Yoruichi glared at the man at her side who dared to speak against her and Soifon turned to look at Shira who locked eyes with her fear evident in them.

"Ma'am, may I suggest we go back to the Soul Society, or at least to a lesser crowded area than here. Like a park or beach? I don't think the Captain-Commander would appreciate unnecessary damage to the surrounding area." Shira reasoned as fear and reverence battled in her beautiful teal eyes, which somewhat resembled those of Kuukaku Shiba.

Soifon kept her ever present mask on the exterior, but on the inside she blushed and heated at the thought of that woman and what had taken place earlier in that dirty bar, as well as how wrapped up in this competition with Yoruichi she was getting that she almost forgot about the safety of the people of Karakura Town.

"You're right." Yoruichi finally spoke to break the tension that was rising in between the two women opposing her. When Shira looked up she noticed a light blush tinged the tan woman's cheeks. "I got so wrapped up in this, I forgot about the innocent lives around here." She said while sheepishly scratching her cheek, and locked eyes with Soifon, knowing that she was thinking the same thing. "I've got the perfect place!" Yoruichi said after a minute of thought…

-----

Soifon could feel it, a light heat resonated across her face and she knew her right eye was twitching. Yoruichi had to bring them here… _here! _Of all places she could choose she chose this one. She heard Shira audibly gasp at the majesty of the place, and annoyance could only fill her heart at knowing that her secret place, the place she held dear had now been introduced to too many people. This must've been a ploy to make Soifon fight seriously.

"Shira-chan, come here!" Yoruichi shouted with a grin. The girl in question looked up to Soifon for conformation which the young Captain gave, hiding all displeasure she felt at the moment, and the young girl made her way to the Third Captain.

"Shihouin-dono!" Shira said, kneeling at her feet, as low as possible, the blush that she held for Soifon only grew when she was called by the tan beauty.

"KAH!" Shihouin Yoruichi scoffed, causing the younger girl to jump and look to the woman's face to see why she'd just made such a noise. "You are too similar!" she said, and the Second Captain tensed under the declaration, hoping that Yoruichi wouldn't continue in the fashion she thought she might. "Just call me Yoruichi… geez." She said with a smile.

"R-right, Yoruichi-san!" Shira stuttered for a moment, before glancing back at her Captain who was still and silent thorough out all of this, then brought her gaze back to the golden orbs that looked down on her. A huge grin spread across Yoruichi's face during the brief period that Shira looked to her Captain.

"At least you're less stubborn. Here," Yoruichi said handing her five flags, plus the one that she'd taken from the Kurosaki Clinic, to the younger girl. "You take yours from Captain Soifon and you'll be the one to keep them until time is called. This is a hand-to-hand melee and the first to fall in battle for ten seconds looses… of course, we have a time limit of thirty minutes, since we have to make our way back to the grand arena. If neither one has lost, or been pinned even, we'll call the battle on the damage dealt. Deal?" she said raising her head to look at Soifon, who nodded in agreement.

"You should step back now." Soifon finally said after a second of looking at the small girl with thirteen flags in her possession. The Onmitsukido, and Squad two, as well as Squad three all stepped back quite a ways, but Shira stayed close enough she could watch the battle.

A wind blew and "start" was shouted from the sapphire haired girl when the two were ready. Of course, any skilled fighter wouldn't leap right into the battle and the two women stood their ground, planning, and summing up their opponent.

"I remember the last time we did this, we weren't on such good terms." Yoruichi said with that playful grin that she nearly always wore.

"I don't recall ever saying we were on better terms. I may not hate you anymore, but that doesn't change the fact of how deserted I felt." Soifon spat back, being in this position reminded her of too many good times that were given up, and the singular worst time in her life, where she was unable to complete her mission.

Yoruichi's smile faltered slightly at the ugly memories that Soifon had decided to dig up, but it sprouted back into a bright smile yet again. "I see your squad got my flag… Was it you that found it?" She asked lightheartedly.

Slightly shocked by the change of topic, Soifon confirmed with a "Yes" that she'd been the one to retrieve the flag.

"My, my, I never knew you'd resort to pa—"as quickly as the beginning of _that_ word started to sprout in the older woman's mouth, Soifon used her Shunpo to stop in front of her and as fast as lightening, dropped Yoruichi, using her left hand to cover her mouth before she could spout any more lies, and pinning her with her right hand, holding the tan goddess to the ground as she straddled her former Mentor to stop her movement.

"Liar." Soifon whispered with venom as a count down started from the young Shira in a corner of the clearing. "You _know_ it was not in anywhere like that!" the young Captain said, trying her hardest to stop the red that was beginning to cover her visage.

The muscles in Yoruichi's face contracted and contorted until the young raven-haired woman knew if she lifted her hand she'd see a smile as bright, if not brighter, than the one that reflected in the violet haired woman's golden orbs.

"5…4…3…" was heard and Yoruichi's eyes widened quickly, before Soifon let out a gasp and sat up, allowing the tan woman to Shunpo across the opening in the grove of cherry blossoms and stopping the countdown to the end of her game.

Soifon looked at her palm, which now shimmered with moisture before looking over at the goddess of flash with a red face. '_She licked me!_' She shouted in her mind, outraged. Her outrage only escalated when she saw the woman shake her orchid tresses out of her face, before licking her lips playfully, causing the blush to deepen.

"Fine." Soifon said quietly before she stood. "If that's how you want to play, fine." She said louder for the older woman to hear her. The grin grew that captivated Yoruichi's face, as she took a stance for her hand-to-hand combat that was eminent.

With that the two became barely visible as they stayed within the boarder the cherry blossom trees made around the empty field fighting each other in Hakuda combat.

"You must've thought about it." Yoruichi whispered as she blocked one of Soifon's lightening fast punches to her side, before parrying.

"Not once." Soifon replied before she knocked the parry away and jumped back to begin a new assault.

"So who broke the barrier?" Yoruichi breathed into Soifon's ear as she dodged a kick in the most elegant way imaginable before attempting to throw in a punch in a minute opening that Soifon had, which was caught, before she flew back.

Soifon glared before standing her ground once again. Yoruichi stood still, slightly hunched, before she looked up revealing a cut on her forehead that sent a river of blood over her eye. She brought her arm up and wiped it away to gain her vision again.

"I got you too." She said straightening her posture back into her laid back one she generally had.

Soifon felt the pain in her ribs as she took a new stance, and grimaced. I think you broke two ribs." She called with her eyes now aflame with what one could only describe as surprise, quickly masked with malice.

A frown flitted across the Shihouin heir's lips before she got back into a fighting stance. "Kisuke?" she asked and the answer she was looking for stayed in Soifon's eyes for a minute second before Yoruichi was off to attack again.

"Sorry." Yoruichi said as she dodged another attack by her ex-protégé.

"It couldn't be avoide— uh!" Soifon gasped as the air was knocked out of her as her back slammed to the ground, and grimaced as her ribs complained about being broken.

"You know…" Yoruichi began, grinning at the position that she now had her little bee in. "I asked Jushiro to set this up." She said, making her voice even quieter as she bent her head down closer to the beautiful flushed face of the younger woman under her. Soifon's eyes widened at what Yoruichi was implying.

A beautiful laugh erupted out of the dark woman as she sat back, giving her little bee room to escape. She was having too much fun and she refused it to end at the count of ten.

Soifon stood, glaring daggers at the older woman, knowing that she was let up so they could continue this little game. '_Well, I won't have it!'_ she thought as she walked briskly up to the darker woman.

"Little bee?" Yoruichi asked as Soifon came to stand right in front of her.

"No." she said, stunning the woman in front of her into silence. "I won't play your game, I'll concede defeat and you'll get your chance to get me drunk. You won't get to go and bother Kuchiki Byakuya, but who cares!" she said, leaning in closer to the taller woman. "I know what you're playing at, Yoruichi, and you will not capture my heart. Not again." She said with a deadly whisper, for only Yoruichi to hear, and made to Shunpo away back to the grand arena, leaving Yoruichi wide-eyed and silent.

"Y-Yoruichi-san?" Shira called as she walked up to the victor. "Here you are, Ma'am." She said, holding up the thirteen clothes that were currently in her possession. Yoruichi looked down to see the little girl that so resembled a younger, and more innocent Soifon. It had been an entire year and Yoruichi still couldn't sway the younger Captain.

"S-Shira… you keep them. This wasn't why I wanted to play the game anyway." She said, as she quickly used a Shunpo to go find her little bee and find out what was wrong with the way they were now, and why they couldn't make up.

"…R-right." The girl said, being left alone in the grove, before she made for the grand arena.

x-x-x-x-x-x

**AN:**_ So, this Chapter wasn't as long as my last but there was some Yorusoi in it… at least a little… the next chapter _should_ be the last… of course, I'm not completely sure, it depends on how much I wanna elaborate. So the name of the story is the name of this chapter and it's explained in the fourth paragraph to the end. I'm sorry I'm not good at fighting scenes… I wasn't wanting them to actually be FIGHTING, fighting anyway…_

_Hope you enjoyed it, and tune in for the last (?) chapter! _

_~Bishimimou_

_------_

_Preview for the next chapter…_

"_Just go away." She said as she hugged her knees closer to her chest feeling every bit vulnerable as a five year old that's about to get into trouble for playfully hurting her little brother._

"_I won't leave you again, and you know that. Why do you think I did something like this?" she asked, walking over to the woman in front of her, wary of her actions, making sure that none would cause the woman to run away again._


	6. On Soukyoku Hill

**Chapter Six:** _On Soukyoku Hill_

Shira walked solemnly toward the grand arena, not knowing what she felt after seeing her Captain leave the way she did. She was even more confused upon seeing the expression that the Third Captain held for the Second Captain before she took her leave as well.

'_It's all too confusing…_' she thought, as she brought a hand up to her chest, feeling completely depressed at the outcome of what was supposed to be a fun game.

Suddenly a heavy mass bumped into her and she quickly sputtered an apology. "I'm s-sorry!" she said as she stepped back, only to notice the white of a Captain's Haori. "Captain Kuukaku! Please forgive me!" she said even more flustered than before as she saw the tall woman's face and she bowed in her presence.

"Huh?" Kuukaku looked down to see the short girl at her feet. "Oh, it's one of the shrimp's spy crew. What're you apologizing for? I bumped into you… I'm a bit tipsy after drinking." She said, bending to get the girl to stand.

"Y-you know my Captain, Ma'am?" she asked, locking eyes with the strong woman in front of her.

"Yeah, she's a stubborn one… by the way, what are you doing with all those flags?" Kuukaku asked arching her brow at the mound of cloth that engulfed the younger girl's arms.

"W-well… You see the Second and Third squad were tied with the amount of flags we had, and the only one left was ours. Yoruichi-san, and Captain Soifon-sama decided to have a winner takes all melee match, and who ever was down for ten seconds lost.

"Captain Soifon-sama almost had Yoruichi-san, but she got free somehow, and they fought again. After a while Captain Soifon-sama had landed a blow on Yoruichi-san's brow, and Yoruichi-san broke a few of Captain Soifon-sama's ribs, and had her pinned.

"Just as I almost finished the countdown, Yoruichi-san let Captain Soifon-sama up, but I guess something happened. My Captain looked upset, and she leaned into Yoruichi-san, and whispered something in her ear, then left in a flash. Yoruichi-san looked shocked to say the least and told me to do whatever I want with the flags, and that "this", what ever it was, was not why she was playing the game…

"Only Captains are allowed to hand in flags, so I don't particularly know what I'm supposed to do. What do you think Captain Kuukaku? Do you think I should look for Captain Soifon-sama?" The young girl looked at the cloths in her hand with a worried expression, reminding Kuukaku of the way Soifon used to look, when Yoruichi seemed out of character.

"Listen kid!" Kuukaku said patting one of the small girl's shoulders. "You got nothin' to worry about! Those two may not seem like it but they go way back. Yoruichi used to be the Captain of squad two, and Soifon was basically her Lieutenant… Yoruichi trusted her more than her Lieutenant anyway. Some crazy stuff happened that I'm not going to go into… Don't you worry! Thing's'll be better in no time." She said with a smile at Shira.

"Thank you Ma'am. I suppose that _you_ should take the flags… I can't hand them in on behalf of the Second Squad, and the sun's about to go down." Shira said, holding up the stack of cloths.

"You're a good kid. You remind me a lot of the old Soifon; I think you got great things to look forward to in the future." She said with a grin, ruffling the sapphire tresses on the young girl's crown.

"Thank you Ma'am. You're kindness is lost on me." She said, and Kuukaku was about to say something about them being exactly alike before Shira used a Shunpo to dash away to the grand arena.

"Exactly like each other." She said before making her way to the Grand Arena, herself.

-----

Tension was high at the grand arena. The thirteen squads awaited the arrival of the last Captain and it was evident on most of the Captain's faces that they'd lost the game, subsequently loosing a lot of money in the process.

The Fourth Captain looked on at the Second and Third, a frown marring her kindly features. She could easily feel the static between the two Captains. Yoruichi wasn't smiling and the Soifon's eyes were hollow, neither a good sign; this was something that she'd only seen during the days after the rescue of Kuchiki Rukia.

Just as the sun was about to set and no one was declared a winner, the newly appointed Fifth Captain stumbled onto the stage, shoving the thirteen flags into the Captain-Commander's arms, stating that she won.

Yoruichi's eyes widened a little before there was a cheer from the large crowd in the Grand Arena, and Ukitake Jushiro made the win official and presented the Fifth Captain with a trophy in her honor, soon after dismissing the group.

Yoruichi looked over to once again, find herself alone on stage, being split from the one she truly wanted to talk to.

"Yoruichi-san, may I have a word?" Unohana asked, turning to the tan woman.

"Yeah, sure." Yoruichi said, slightly devoid of emotion.

"I ask that you visit my quarters, I'll be waiting for you there… and please, don't go looking for Captain Soifon until you've heard what I have to tell you." She said, before making her way back to the fourth division with her Lieutenant, Kotetsu Isane.

"Congrats." Yoruichi said quietly, depression on the surface of her words, to her friend Kuukaku.

"Thanks. I heard what happened from Soi-chan's little girl. It seems like we're going to get to go drinking just as soon as the two of you pull yer heads out of yer asses and realize that yer both idiots. Yer really worrying that girl you know." She said; her brows furrowed slightly only to arch as she looked on at the uncharacteristic face that the tan woman was displaying.

"Yeah." She mumbled looking up for only a second before bowing her head again.

"GAH! I swear yer too perfect for each other! Well I'll tell ya, every things gonna work out. I can feel it, so don't worry. Now go see what Unohana has to tell you then find yer little bee and romance her until the weekend!" Kuukaku said with a throaty laugh, placing her hand on Yoruichi's shoulder before digging out the pack of cigarettes that she had in her Haori. "An' I'm almost outta these." She said before walking away to get her trophy.

-----

Yoruichi stood out side the door to the Captain's office in the Fourth Division for well over half an hour, hesitant about hearing what Unohana was going to tell her.

'_What if it's about Soifon?'_ she thought to herself, but shook the thought… She was hesitant of even going to see Soifon. She seemed so decisive about what she'd said earlier today.

"_I know what you're playing at, Yoruichi, and you will not capture my heart. Not again."_

The violet haired goddess closed her eyes in anguish. _'How… Just what did I do to her?'_ She thought, feeling a stinging sensation in her eyes.

"Yoruichi-san, if you plan on staying out there all night, I may just head home." She heard from the innards of the office. Yoruichi sighed heavily before turning and pulling the shoji with no grace; it felt as though she were opening the door to hell.

"What did you call me for, Retsu-san?" Yoruichi asked, refusing to meet the woman's honest, piercing gaze.

"I've noticed you and Captain Soifon, as of late. Care to talk about it?" She asked, as a counselor would.

"No. I wouldn't. So, if you excuse me, I'll be on my way." Yoruichi said furrowing her brows angered before turning.

"Fine, I'll talk about it." Unohana said quietly, stopping Yoruichi in her tracks. "You, from the moment I first met you, were a happy and free spirit; always smiling and playful. After you met that girl, Soifon, you changed slightly. You were no longer playful, like you once were. You had a sense of being, or belonging, and you started to take your position more seriously.

"I was surprised that you trusted that girl with more things than your lieutenant… even so when you told her secrets that you'd never confided in with Urahara Kisuke." Unohana explained, expecting the raised brow and widened gold orbs she received at what she was saying.

"Yes, Yoruichi-san, I've been watching: a silent observer of you and your friends from a very early age. Your family was worried that you were lonely and asked me to make a medical prognosis to your reclusive personality, so I have been watching you. I must say, I was surprised when you left with Kisuke-kun without telling Captain Soifon… but I was even more surprised with how _well_ she was taking it… that is until I was asked by her family, as well as the Captain-Commander to watch her, and make sure she wasn't a security risk. After all, she was a close friend to the "_fiends_" that "_betrayed_" the Soul Society."

Yoruichi looked on in horror at what was being told to her. Not only was anger boiling up in her for Unohana _knowing_ that Kisuke was not at fault a hundred years ago. She was also suggesting that Soifon would've put the whole of the Soul Society at risk for _her_. It was unspeakable.

"So I watched her, and you know what I found?" Unohana asked solemnly. Yoruichi held a breath, not knowing what was coming next. "I found a broken and battered soul. A shell of her former, shining self—"

"No!" Yoruichi shouted over the end of Unohana's sentence. "No." she said again angrily.

"Yoruichi-san?" Unohana questioned, looking at the distress carved into the other woman's beautiful features. "I know this is hard but—"

"Shut up! Don't say any more, Retsu!" Yoruichi shouted, before turning and running at her full speed away from the offending images that Unohana was displaying to her psyche. Her eyes burned, and she rubbed her sleeve against them roughly, not caring where she was going, just that she was getting away from this.

'_This isn't why I came back._' She thought darkly.

-----

A small woman sat hugging her knees to her body tightly as she was wracked with silent sobs. She was happy to have her Yoruichi-sama back in her life… Beyond happy! There were so many things she wanted to talk to her about. Some bad, some good, but all of them were things that she wished to know, and get out into the open…

'_I'm so stupid!_' she thought to herself. Why? Why had she said such a stupid thing?!

"_I know what you're playing at, Yoruichi, and you will not capture my heart. Not again."_

She heard a silent shuffling behind her, and she tensed, this Reiatsu, even after a hundred years of absence she knew that no other Reiatsu could block her senses like this one.

-----

Yoruichi finally opened her eyes to see where her feet had brought her. A small black blob trembling with nearly silent sobs caught her attention. Her heart sank at the realization of who it was.

"Just go away." The bundle said as she hugged her knees closer to her chest feeling every bit as vulnerable as a five year old that's about to get into trouble for playfully hurting her little brother.

"I won't leave you again, and you know that. Why do you think I did something like this?" the violet haired woman asked, her eyes blazing with sorrow as she made her way over to the woman in front of her, wary of her actions, making sure that none would cause the young woman to run away again.

"Why are you even here?!" Soifon shouted, now turning to look at the tall beauty behind her.

"I want to talk… Unohana…" she began, but closed her eyes in a grimace. The thought of what Unohana Retsu said left a bad taste in her mouth. "Unohana… told me about some things that… happened after I left." She finished, which was a difficult feat.

"I don't have anything to say to you." Soifon said, her voice cracking under the pressure.

'_Liar._'

"I don't want to have anything to do with you anymore!" the short Captain shouted holding her legs tighter against her.

'_Liar!'_

Her mind shouted at her, urged Soifon to take the initiative and begin building the bridge to being friends again.

"I know…" Yoruichi began, walking closer to the small woman. "You don't really mean it." She sad, kneeling and taking the smaller woman in her arms, and sighed when she felt the young woman tense under her hold.

"Go…away." Soifon said, breaking down, not even able to really complete her sentence in a stable voice.

"No, never again." Yoruichi whispered quietly to her, holding the young woman tighter still.

Soifon couldn't talk anymore. She didn't want to feel; she wanted to die. But this beautiful goddess refused to let her go, and she felt warmth enter her that hadn't been there for over a hundred years.

"Yoruichi!" she finally cried, releasing her legs and gripping the tan woman's neck in a strong hug, burying her wet face in the crook of the woman's neck, and the two let their masks fall, and all of their emotions spilled out to each other as they sat at the ledge of Soukyoku hill.

-----

Birds chirped quietly as the sun rose to warm the cooled night that had passed: a testament to show things can start off anew. The sound of clothes ruffling filled the warm morning as the Third Captain stirred out of the slumber she'd unknowingly fallen into on top of Soukyoku hill. A small smile spread on her lips as she felt the arms of the younger Second Captain tighten around her slim waist.

She was quiet as she pulled the Second Captain closer and buried her nose in her raven locks, taking in the smell that had so long eluded her senses.

"Soifon…" she whispered, running a hand through her hair before ceasing her movement to watch the young woman sleep. It had been some time since she'd seen Soifon's face so placid, so full of life. She smiled a bright, genuine smile before snuggling closer to the warmth the younger Captain was giving off.

"Captain Yoruichi!"

"Captain Soifon!"

Both calls were heard off in the distance by Yoruichi's keen ears, and she sighed, not wanting to ruin the moment. Finally after weighing the consequences of Soifon being woken by her, or by someone from her squad, waking her up herself was the best outcome.

"Soi… Come on little bee, wake up." Yoruichi urged as she lightly shook the small woman's frame, which soon caused the young woman's eyes to flutter open, meeting silver to gold. A smile was evident on Yoruichi's face, and even if she wanted to, Soifon couldn't stop herself from forming a small smile on her lips as well.

"Good morning." She whispered, shifting to stretch slightly.

"Morning." Yoruichi replied smiling with closed eyes, the happiness she could feel was absolutely unfathomable.

"Captain Yoruichi!"

"Captain Soifon!"

Both calls were heard again, this time only slightly closer, causing Soifon's eyes to go wide. '_We're at Soukyoku hill?_' she thought taking in her surroundings before standing up and brushing off her Hakama, and extending a hand to help her ex-mentor up.

"Did we fall asleep?" She asked once the older woman was upright.

"I guess. What do you want to tell the search party?" She said with a hint of playfulness coloring her words.

"We won't be found by the search party. Let's just go back home… We… we can talk about last night later." Soifon said, her cheeks coloring slightly at the memory before she flashed away in the blink of an eye. The Shihouin heir sighed in defeat before setting back down; waiting for the search party, her story was that she was thinking all night.

-----

"OI!" Was heard before the shoji to the office of the Second Captain was kicked open by the rowdy Fifth Captain. "You lost! Now you gotta drink with us!" finished the rude intrusion as the tall black haired Captain dragged the dark Third Captain in with a choke hold.

"Kuukaku, I'm not in the mood." Soifon said, with a bored expression that quickly turned into one of pity as the violet haired woman smiled apologetically up at her while attempting to pry the strong right arm from her neck.

Sighing, Soifon stood, and made her way over to Kuukaku. She looked down at the dark woman before looking back up into the teal blue eyes that were so full of fire.

"We tied, and you happened to get the flags in the cross fire. The only thing you did was drink… I know I lost the bet, and I'll drink with you two a different day, but for now, I'm not in the mood." Soifon said, while loosening the vice like grip the woman had around Yoruichi's throat enough so that Yoruichi could use a Shunpo to get away, which she did.

"Yeah, Kuukaku!" Yoruichi said; rubbing her, now, sore neck as she stood behind Soifon's desk, which was a fair distance away from the frightening woman dubbed Kuukaku. "I'm not in the mood right now." She finished, setting in Soifon's chair.

"GAH, fine! Y'all aren't any fun anyway. Damn…" Kuukaku said before stalking away grumbling incoherent curses and the like.

Turning back to the purple haired woman she frowned slightly.

"I want to talk."

x-x-x-x-x-x

**AN:** _Wow! I'm really happy with all of the reviews I'm getting from this story. Personally, I didn't think it was that grand. I was just trying to think up something that I hadn't seen before… I _have_ read over a hundred YoruSoi fanfictions: I've read really, REALLY good ones, mediocre ones, and ones that had a good base, but needed a lot of work, but I don't think I've ever seen one like this. Being on a Bleach high recently I just decided to write this, and I really didn't think it'd get the reception it did._

_One more chapter, I've decided… I'm still debating if I'm going to write a short Epilogue as well, or something… I wouldn't know what to do with it… I'd want Shira in there if I did! :3 She's so cute! 3_

_I hope you've enjoyed so far; thanks to all my reviewers, even if they weren't critiques, they certainly are the juice that keeps my posts as often as they have been. I have to give a big "THANK YOU" to AyumiRuki from Deviantart, too because the pictures she draws, and the rate she shoots them out is amazing! _

_~Bishimimou_


	7. The End New Beginnings

_Disc: I have it on my profile, but I have to add I don't own any sayings that might be used in here that may or may not be familiar to some of you. (I don't wanna say, because I like that part of the story and I don't wanna ruin it!)_

-----

**Chapter Seven**: _The End; New Beginnings_

"We need to talk"

That singular sentence sent Yoruichi into a nervous break down. Had they not forgiven each other last night? Why was it that Soifon wanted to bring up such things this early in the morning?

"Would you come with me?" She continued, extending a hand to the older woman, making Yoruichi's heart sink at the question she should've asked over a hundred years ago. She looked on at the pale hand for a moment before nodding, and taking it into her own slender fingers.

Instead of using a Shunpo to get to their destination, the two women decided a leisurely walk would be the best medicine.

Yoruichi smiled lightly at the fact that she was walking hand in hand with the woman she was just realizing she lov—'_…No, better not jinx it._' She corrected her thoughts, shaking her head slightly, and welcomed the comfortable silence that she was receiving.

-----

After a while of walking Yoruichi was jarred from the thoughts she was lost in by the voice of her young protégé.

"Here we are." Soifon said, before extracting her hand from the warm comfort it was in moments before. Yoruichi looked around at this place she'd been brought to; it was nothing like the cherry blossom grove that was outside of the Second Division that they normally went to.

This was much better.

It was apparently far from the walls of the Seireitei, and Yoruichi was nearly baffled at how she'd ended up here without noticing she had been lead all this way. There was a large beautiful crystal river humming nearby, visible from the place where they'd stopped. This place was surrounded by cherry blossoms as well, but these were far more beautiful and un-tamed.

Yoruichi gasped loudly in awe, causing a small smile to grace her ex-student's features, which quickly disappeared, making it seem as though it was imagined there. The raven haired woman walked up to a bolder that was near the river bank and set atop it, overlooking the crystal water.

"So, what is it you want to talk about?" Yoruichi asked quietly, walking over to the rock and taking a seat on the ground next to it, leaning her back against the large mass.

"Everything."

Yoruichi was in awe at the face her friend was displaying. It was so many emotions all bottled into one, and it nearly pulled her heart out of her chest.

"Everything?" She mused, not even bothering to play at happiness.

"Yes," Soifon paused before beginning again. "You wanted to know what Unohana was talking about, right, and you never actually told me why it was you had to leave." The small woman said, lifting her hand to clutch at her chest, anguish clear across her features.

Yoruichi sighed… This was going to be a long day.

"I suppose I should start from the beginning, and you fill in where you should." She said and Soifon nodded, lending her complete attention to the older woman. To listen to the story that was long overdue.

-----

*Yoruichi's POV*

I was a little girl, and I was already set up for greatness. My parents… they refused to think I would be anything less than the greatest Shinigami in the history of the Soul Society. When I was little I used to think that was a great ambition. I always liked being the center of attention, so being the greatest Shinigami was something that sounded appealing to my young mind.

Things changed when I got older. I was pushed beyond breaking and Retsu had to take care of me more often than I would've liked. I was a lonely girl, and I didn't want friends. I just wanted to get away. So, I practiced my Shunpo to the point of nearly irreplaceable damage to my legs, and I was stranded in a remote place far away from the Shihouin estate.

I remember I smiled bitterly there. It seemed that I was finally able to get away, but the only escape was death. I couldn't walk and I could barely drag myself to shelter. I was scared, but I was resigned to my fate. "Who would find me out here?" I thought.

That's when I first met Kisuke.

He was a little skinny, lanky, awkward, boy. His sandy blonde hair gave him a deranged look and he was covered in dirt up to his chin. I don't know why but he made me smile. He was the epitome of freedom in my eyes.

When he came up to me, I couldn't help but be nervous. He said the normal "hellos" and introduced himself as Urahara Kisuke, and I couldn't help but be surprised. Though Urahara was a lower noble family, like yourself, it was surprising to see a child from that house so free of will.

He asked me about my predicament, and helped me quickly heal my legs with one of his crazy inventions that he made on the spot!

We were friends ever since. I mean, he was the only one in his family and, like me, all he wanted was to be free…

I resigned to my fate, after Kisuke explained, if I'm the head of the house, and a Captain of a squad, I don't have to be here with my parents anymore, and I do what I want, as well as tell people what they should do. So I strove to be the best Captain ever, and I even dragged Kisuke along for the ride, getting him a spot in my squad.

Then I met you.

You were the way I was when I was a child, working for what your family wanted you to do, and I wanted you to feel the little bit of freedom that I had when I met Kisuke, so I befriended you. I wanted you to feel the freedom that I'd always wanted… Then some things went terribly wrong, and Kisuke was accused of some very bad experiments.

I couldn't leave him. I mean, if you knew someone basically your whole life. Someone who saved you, made you free, and saved your life, you wouldn't leave them, would you?

When we made that promise, it was two days before I was going to help Kisuke escape. I wanted you to come with me, I truly did. Kisuke insisted that I allowed you to live your life here, and perhaps one day, you could help distil the malice and sewage that contained itself in the underbelly of the Soul Society… I never meant to hurt you the way I did.

-----

Yoruichi paused, allowing her protégé time to think on the subject.

"No, I wouldn't have left a person who saved me… I didn't… Did I, Yoruichi-sama?" Soifon looked down to the dark woman with sorrow. Seeing the Shihouin heir shake her head, she lightened up slightly, until…

"So what happened to you while I was gone?" Yoruichi asked with innocence as to what _had_ gone on.

A frown creased the young woman's face, and she brought her knees up to her chest and laid her head upon them, showing off much more vulnerability and frailty than she wanted to. She had promised that she would fill in the gaps, but she really didn't want to talk about those times again.

"It's alright… I'll listen." Yoruichi said, but Soifon knew she didn't know anything about what had happened, and was uncomfortable with talking about it.

"Listen, Yoruichi-sama, I know I said I would tell you about what Unohana was talking about… but, I'm just so uncomfortable with talking about it. I wouldn't have any doubts it would change your mind about me." Soifon said, looking away, up river so she wouldn't have to see the purple hair that she knew so well.

"It wouldn't. I already have an opinion of you, and my opinions aren't swayed easily. Why do you think I'm still friends with Shiba?" she said with a chuckle, before returning to the gloom the moment presented.

"Fine." Soifon said with some bitterness as she hugged herself tighter in fear.

-----

*Soi's POV*

When I woke up the day you left, I greeted the day like any other and went about my morning training and the works. That was, until I heard some men talking about you.

"Hey! 'd you hear about the Captain?" they asked me. I didn't know what they were talking about and they explained, calling you names and disgracing you. I couldn't stand it. I told them they were lying and I'd kick their asses for saying such malignant things about you.

How could I, a loyal servant; fully trusting of your every action, have known that they were being serious.

They told me to piss off, and I went quickly to your quarters to tell you about the mishap in the courtyard.

When I got to your barracks, I was so confused. "Why are the halls empty?" I asked myself, remembering that your guard always watched the halls around your quarters. That's when anxiety caught a hold of my heart and I sprinted down the hall, afraid of what was to come.

I caught your door, believing that you'd be inside, and slid it open with ferocity, and there it was. Your throne: empty; your room: barren.

You were a liar.

I was angry, but hopeful. Perhaps you'd just gone away for a while… at least that's what I told myself. Until a month later… you were no where to be found and I made my way quietly back to that room that you ruled in.

That day I collapsed, no longer a whole person for some unknown reason. I cried for hours silently and passed out on your throne, unable to move any longer.

I guess one of the squad members found me, and took me to the fourth division. Unohana tried her best to take care of me, but my body was the only thing that was "alive". The rest of me shut down. I couldn't see, I couldn't hear, I couldn't feel. I was just a being present in reality, but not consciously.

That was, until _that_ day.

I'd never met Shiba Kuukaku ever in my life, but she'd somehow ended up in the fourth division complaining about her arm or something stupid. I was somehow brought about by her brashness.

She reminded me of you.

That was the day that I finally heard Unohana: "If you hate her so much, you have to live… Otherwise how are you going to tell her when she comes back?" she asked me.

I didn't think that was possible. I didn't think you'd ever come back, but that lit a fire under my feet. I convinced myself that I actually hated you and I began training for that day; when you did come back, I would be alive and well enough to tell you how much I hated you, detested you, as you fell at my feet lifeless, and void of blood.

So I trained. I trained, and trained, and trained. I finally got my Shikai to work, and soon after my Bankai. Captain-Commander Yamamoto saw me as a perfect candidate for the open place as Captain of the second squad, as well as the Commander of the Onmitsukido.

I was astonished. Did he think I was chasing after you—following in your footsteps? I was offended, until I remembered the words that Unohana told me every time I was admitted to the Fourth squad clinic.

I had to survive to tell you that I hated you; this would only make my objective that much easier.

In the act of completing my Shikai and Bankai, I had harmed myself too much to even count. I'd not been able to walk for three months as I attempted to multiply my Shunpo speed, and when I finally started teaching myself Shunko, it took twenty years to get as far as I did…

That didn't go without my fair share of Fourth division visits. I'd torn up my arm to a nearly irreplaceable state, and my body refused to work for a good half a year the first time I tried to use it full power.

I still hated you.

Thinking back on when you and I had that "catastrophic" battle… I have to remember, the whole time, no matter how much I felt I hated you… No matter how loudly I remembered Unohana's words… I couldn't bring myself to kill you. Every time I cut you, I felt a piece of my mask… my exoskeleton fall apart.

I told you I hated you, but I didn't mean it. I knew that I couldn't. You were the one that made me who I was, and there was no way I could contend my hatred against the appreciation I felt toward you for making me who I was that day.

-----

Soifon sat in silent. That was all she was willing to tell the older woman, and that was all the older woman needed to know.

"Soi…" Yoruichi called quietly before embracing the, now, exposed shoulders of the younger woman.

"Soifon… I came back, only for you. I couldn't live with Kisuke, knowing what I do now." Yoruichi said smiling against the pale skin that she pressed her face against. The dark haired woman's brows arched in confusion at the older woman's words.

'_What do you know now?_' she asked herself, but was brought from her thoughts as she was pushed up from her scrunched position.

"I know I've hurt you, and I know I can't possibly be forgiven that easily, but… My little bee… I want this to work out. I want to be here, with you, eternally." She said as she placed her hand carefully over the one that Soifon still held over her heart. "I've never wanted to capture your heart. I tried to make it free… the only thing I've ever wanted was to be apart of it." Yoruichi said before removing it, and turning, to begin her trek away.

"Yoruichi!" The tall, tan woman heard before she felt a mass impact with her back and grip around her waist.

'_My little bee…_' Yoruichi thought with a smile, and went to turn to make this moment complete, before she was interrupted by a loud ringing, which caused Soifon to jump back embarrassed at the situation she'd literally thrown herself into.

"I-I'm sorry… It seems someone's calling me." Soifon said, flustered, before reaching into a pocket in her Haori, which was now back on her shoulders, and taking out the cell phone device that the Soul Society called "soul pagers".

"H-hello??" Soifon said rather confused, and Yoruichi knew it was someone she was very familiar with, otherwise the short Captain wouldn't have stuttered into the receiver. "What do you want, Kuukaku—fine whatever… _Captain_ Shiba?" Soifon said; now back into her almost adorably irritable self.

Yoruichi watched in amusement for a moment before she noticed the paleness of her friend's face, causing worry to build up in the pit of her stomach. Soon after, Soifon rolled her eyes, which quelled the fears that were rising in the older woman's stomach.

"Fine, whatever!" She shouted in the phone before slamming it closed.

"What was that about?" Yoruichi asked, now curious.

"She won't shut up about us going to drink with her." Soifon replied, and looked on at the taller woman, who now wore a toothy grin.

"That's right; you _did_ loose, didn't you? I guess that means we get to go have fun!" Yoruichi said, grabbing the exposed shoulder of her friend before dragging her off in a Shunpo to the Fifth Squad barracks.

-----

"Kuukaku!!!" Yoruichi shouted, cupping one of her hands to her mouth. The woman in question walked angrily out of her office and almost started shouting about people not being "the hell quiet" around her office, but stopped and grinned at the sight of the two women.

"Well, I didn' think ya'd show!" She said, roughly running her hand over the shorter woman's dark locks, which Soifon knocked away post-haste.

"A deal's a deal." The shorter woman mumbled, turning away from the abhorrent woman, and sulked for a moment.

"You know, this'll be better if we go to my house." Kuukaku said, before grabbing her Haori and using a Shunpo to get a head start to her "humble abode".

Yoruichi more than willingly followed and in no time made it to where one of her oldest friends lived, making it there much before the woman herself did, though she only barely beat her younger friend.

"You're getting quick." Yoruichi commented as they waited for Kuukaku to make it there.

"You're still faster." Soifon replied as Yoruichi ruffled her hair playfully.

"Well I'm not Shunshin Yoruichi for nothing!" She said with a smile, both women now happy that they'd gotten away from the past, and was ready to live in the here and now.

A loud bang with a cloud of dust billowing from the ground, accompanied by a flurry of curses signaled Kuukaku's arrival, and the two other women made their way over to their fallen friend and helped her up.

"You two just gotta be _SO_ fast, don'cha?" she said, as she made her way to the front of her ill-designed house, and quickly made her way to her "special" sake storage.

-----

It was four hours later and Kuukaku couldn't even form a sentence properly, which didn't mean she didn't try.

"So… hgha… soi… DRINK!" she muttered swaying here and there, a deep flush colored her cheeks.

Yoruichi and Soifon, on the other hand were far more conservative with the way they were drinking, though that didn't mean Soifon, a young woman who'd never taken a drink of anything more than water or tea her whole life, wasn't a bit tipsy.

"Yoru-chan!" Soifon said while swaying toward the older woman who seemed only slightly buzzed, and raised her cup to the sky. "Y-you need ta… kitty ears sommimes…" she slurred, and Yoruichi was confused as to what she was talking about.

"I think you're slammed now, you can stop drinking." Yoruichi replied, and tried to take the bottle away from Soifon's other hand.

"Nope!" Soifon said, shaking her head profusely while moving the bottle out of Yoruichi's reach in a lightening quick movement, only to be dizzy moments later, due to the shaking of her head. Then began to giggle at the way the room was spinning.

"I thought you were drunk, not high." Yoruichi mumbled, and attempted to take the bottle away again, only to fall over the "master of the drunken fist" beside her. Her face burned brightly as her bright topaz eyes locked with misty silver ones, and she was locked into place, unable to move.

"Yoruichi…" Soifon mumbled, as she clumsily embraced Yoruichi's waist with one arm, the other leaving behind the bottle to grab something much more intoxicating: Yoruichi's flawless face… only she noticed then, in the haze of drunkenness, Yoruichi's face was indeed not flawless.

As she looked closer she saw small scars that she hadn't noticed before, even one that she, herself, had given her.

"I'm sorry…" She mumbled, nearly incoherently, as she stroked a pale thumb over the tan woman's left cheek where the scar her Suzumebachi had left behind resided.

"I-it's nothing…" Yoruichi murmured, hardly able to even complete that singular task. Her face was too busy being magnetically attracted to the pale, pink lips that were mere inches from hers, but her mind couldn't help but pick up on the younger woman's stunning features this close up.

Her nose was small and adorable, and her eyes were strong and sharp, despite being drunker than Yoruichi had imagined she'd get. Her face was small, but she somehow knew it would fit perfectly in her hands, if she were to grasp it, and the blush that at sometimes annoyed her, (even if she always admired it) made her face burn with such a foreign passion.

"Yoruichi," Soifon breathed, causing the goddess' breath to hitch in her throat, now noticing that her lips were much closer to her friends than they were mere minutes before.

"Soifon…" she breathed back, loving the feeling of being pressed up against this body that she'd recently discovered she loved so much. She felt whole with Soifon and Yoruichi knew that Soifon could never "be" without her.

"Yoruichi… I love…yo—"Soifon drifted off into unconsciousness, too tired to finish her sentence, but Yoruichi knew what she'd said—what she was going to say, and smiled.

"Yeah, little bee, I love you too." She whispered to her friend before closing the gap between them with her lips and lingered momentarily before she lifted herself up, only slightly, and laid back down, placing her head on Soifon's chest to listen to the most beautiful heartbeat she'd ever heard.

"I wasn't the one wanting to capture anything, little bee…" she murmured, snuggling in closer to the woman she loved very much, then lifted her head to speak into the younger woman's ear. " I wanted to make you capture my heart." She said knowing that this was the beginning of something she could work with, no matter how long it took.

~FIN~

-x-x-x-x-x-x

**AN:**_ So, that's it, the end, go home… no one watches the credits anyway! (I do! TT-TT)_

_I hoped you enjoyed it, I really do. I drew on a lot of inspiration while writing this, there's AyumiRuki from with her AMAZING Yorusoi art, and my wonderful reviewers. I must thank the people who write YoruSoi fanfictions, because I've now read almost a hundred fifty, and they've all lead to inspiration. _

_I want to thank BeebopSamurai because the story "The Cat and the Bee" was amazing and I read it at least twice through this whole ordeal to get some inspiration, and I want to plug "The Truth" for being such an amazing story and allowing me to get the feeling of sad moments within the YoruSoi fandom._

_Lastly I want to thank (what, am I receiving an Emmy?!) Yorusoi, for telling me about "Weight of the World", for understanding what I meant about "My Immortal", and for being such a cool person. (Also Evanescence and Hikaru Utada… and techno… it's my writing juice… and Tite Kubo for writing Bleach and making such awesome characters)_

_I must ask you all: should I write a short epilogue? Or do you think the story's fine the way it is? Because if I write an epilogue, it's going to be a few years later… but that's up to you! :3_

_Wow, sorry about the long AN! Thanks for reading my story, hope you come back for others!_

_~Bishimimou_


	8. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

The wind blew, playing with the hair of the two women lying side by side in a field of grass, happily enveloped in the moment… until.

BOOM!

A loud explosion sounded, causing the two women to shoot up and quickly survey their surroundings, where they caught sight of two people running from a gaudy house that was currently on fire.

The one farther back was a man, though many would call him a "boy" with the rear of his trousers aflame shouting after the woman who was running a head of him, both running quite faster than either of the two women that were enjoying the moment had ever seen.

"You two might wanna run!" Kuukaku shouted as she passed the tan beauty and her friend without looking back, causing the women to look over at the house.

"That house is full of explosives, isn't it?" The shorter one asked, dumbstruck for a moment.

"Y-yep!" The older woman said, standing quickly and pulling the younger woman up with her. "Let's get the hell outta here!" She said, and made to Shunpo away just as a secondary explosion sent debris sailing their way. The younger woman followed and soon the four of them were out of harms way.

"What the hell was that about, Kuukaku!?" the shorter woman asked, flinging her hands back in the direction of the burning wreckage.

"I miscalculated… It happens." She shrugged. "Why do you think I don't stay in one place for too long?" she mused, causing the purple haired woman to laugh.

"You are quite something else." She said, and grabbed the shoulder of the younger woman. "Hey, Soi, let's get going then, since there's not going to be a show tonight because Miss Captain here had to ruin things." She said, and began to walk away Soifon in tow.

"It wasn't my fault, ya damn bitch! It's that bastard. Ganju's fault!" the older dark haired woman shouted excuses as to why her home had blown up, but no more were heard as the two women quickly made their way away.

-----

"Well, that was a let down…" Yoruichi said setting down in the new spot they'd made their own.

"Ah, well." Soifon said, shrugging, setting next to her partner, and leaned against her tan shoulder.

"I know!"

"No."

"But why?"

"I don't wanna go."

"It's a nice place this time of year…"

"No."

Their short argument was brought abruptly to its knees as the young Captain of the thirteenth squad stumbled upon their location.

"Captain Kuchiki!" Yoruichi greeted with a smile as Soifon sat up from her comfortable position.

"Yoruichi-dono, Captain Soifon…" she greeted back with a bow before continuing. "I've come to extend an invitation to you. Urahara-san, as well as Ichigo and the others were wondering if you'd like to join us tonight." She said.

"Join you?" Soifon asked skeptical.

"Yes, there is a summer festival tonight in Karakura town, and there'll be fireworks and games, and food. It's really nice. This will be the second time I'm going… I think you'd enjoy it." She said, and bowed respectfully.

"Stop it Kuchiki, you don't have to bow to me like that." Soifon said, turning her head, slightly annoyed at the way the other girl was being so formal with her… more so than normal since she and Yoruichi had become partners.

"Rukia, we'll come, don't you worry. Thanks for inviting us!" Yoruichi said, and the younger girl bowed politely before making her way back to the Seireitei.

"Why'd you say we'd come?" Soifon asked furrowing her brow.

"Because you said you didn't wanna go." Yoruichi smiled, leaning playfully on the younger woman.

"That's because I didn't want to go." She said, crossing her arms with a huff.

"Aww, you'll have fun, trust me! Now let's get going so we'll be there on time!" She said standing and pulling the raven-haired woman up with her. Soifon sighed, and stood allowing herself to be pulled along to where ever she would be.

-----

It had been nearly five years since Yoruichi had come back into her life, and they'd been partners for the last three, after finally getting over some tough times.

Soifon was happy… happier than she'd ever been in her entire life, and knew that only her Yoruichi would be the one to ever make her feel like this.

The same could be said about the cat-like Shihouin. She was far more cheerful and happy every day that progressed.

One could say they were the perfect couple, given that they did argue about the most idiotic things at times, like where all the milk was, or who took all of the blankets the night before. Nothing more than silly spats like that.

Of course, in the end, Soifon was always, _always, _the one to say sorry, or bend to Yoruichi's will, even if she didn't want to. There had been more than one occasion where the two decided to do something incredibly idiotic together, and Kuukaku or Unohana were always the ones that had to save their "Sorry asses" (as Kuukaku liked to say)

So now was no different…

-----

"Why the hell did you do something like that?!" Soifon shouted to her playful lover as they ran away from angered vendors in their gigai's, far quicker than a normal human would, unless they were an Olympic runner.

"They were cheating!" Yoruichi said in her defense, ducking as something was thrown at her at an alarming accuracy.

"That's not supposed to give you grounds to do something like that to the guy!" Soifon said, dodging something else that was thrown in their direction.

They both made it rather quickly to a large opening away from the offending parties, and sat to catch their breath.

"You're crazy." Soifon said finally, leaning back on her hands, looking up at the sky that was a dull dark blue.

"You'd be lost without me." Yoruichi said, leaning on the shorter woman's shoulder, which was bare due to the sleeveless Haori she wore with some Hakama for the summer festival. Soifon didn't say she would, just because of pride, but she didn't say she wouldn't either, because she knew it was true.

She laid her head on top of her friend's and looked up, waiting for the fireworks.

"Yoruichi?" she asked quietly, closing her eyes in bliss for a moment.

"Hmm?" the older woman hummed quietly, lacing her fingers with the ones that were keeping the younger woman upright on their grassy patch.

"Thanks for dragging me here against my will…" Yoruichi chuckled, elated that her partner was having a good time, despite acting all angry.

"You're welcome. Now open your eyes or you'll miss the show." The tall tan beauty said, coaxing the younger woman cognizant.

The sky lit with beautiful fire flowers, none equal in magnificence comparable to those of the Shiba clan, but they were beautiful none the less.

They heard "oohs" and "ahhs" from further away where the actual festival was going on, but they were content to remain silent.

After the show was over Yoruichi sat up and looked over to the younger woman. She leaned forward and carefully captured the younger woman's pale lips with her own.

The two of them set for a moment and reveled in the wonderful moment they were engulfed in, until Yoruichi sat back and smiled.

To think that a few years ago the two were angry at each other for no reason. There were secrets and things that they kept quiet, but eventually all of it turned its self inside out and the two fell deeply in love, more so than they'd ever been with each other.

That was when Yoruichi brought Soifon into the Shihouin family, as her partner, and though she wasn't all that welcome at first she would soon become one of the most respected members of the Shihouin family.

"Would you like to get home? I had something important I wanted to talk to you about." Yoruichi asked standing and extending her hand.

"Sure, but what is this mystery question?" Soi asked taking the hand that was extended to her.

"You'll see…" Yoruichi replied with a cryptic smile and helped the younger woman up.

Soifon couldn't help but smile back, and feel slightly anxious at what may come.

"Yoruichi?" she said walking up next to the older woman and grasping her hand firmly. The tan woman looked over at Soifon with a cocked brow as if asking what she needed.

"I love you." She said and held the hand tighter for a moment longer before letting go, causing the older woman to smile brightly.

"Love you too." She said, as they both made it back, Soifon unaware of the big question that Yoruichi had in store for her was something that would change their lives forever.

-End Epilogue-


End file.
